Così fan tutte (1988 TV Movie) User Reviews

Stratas, Gruberova, Ponnelle and Mozart= Heaven!

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 29 May 2011]

I love Mozart and opera, so naturally I was eager to see this film version of Cosi Fan Tutte. And I loved it, as far as these Jean-Pierre Ponnelle opera films go I do prefer Le Nozze Di Figaro(1975), Rigoletto(1982) and Der Barbier Von Sevilla(1973), but this Cosi Fan Tutte is still excellent.

Visually and musically, Cosi Fan Tutte cannot be faulted at all. The sets are beautifully constructed and the costumes are suitably sumptuous. The photography captures this perfectly, nothing too dizzying or hackneyed here, and Ponnelle's direction is impeccable.

Mozart's music is sublime from start to finish, the standout for me always being the "soave sia il vento" trio, which is still one of my favourite Mozart moments. The story still maintains its sense of fun and freshness and the characters especially Despina are all endearing.

There is some stylish orchestral playing and well judged conducting that doesn't plod too much during the recitatives. When it comes to the acting and singing, there is not a weak link with Dolores Ziegler charming, Luis Lima and Ferruccio Furlanetto an amusing pair of lovers and Paolo Mantarsolo his usual characterful self, but a very funny Teresa Stratas and a vocally flexible Edita Gruberova stand out in particular.

Overall, a wonderful opera film. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Teresa Stratas supreme

[Gyran · 7/10 · 21 July 2001]

These operatic films of Jean-Pierre Ponnelle really are really first rate musically. In this his last film he seems to have rid himself of the irritating habit of doing some of the arias in voice-over. In this film everyone is seen to be singing (although they aren't of course). This is particularly important in Cosi, perhap the most sublime of all operas, because of the large number of quartets, quintets and sextets where you really need to see who is singing what. The cast is, to me, not so well-known as the casts in some of his earlier films such as Le Nozze di Figaro. The divine Teresa Stratas in the role of the maid Despina upstages the rest of the cast in singing, acting and sheer sexiness. The sets, costumes and direction are rather unimaginitive compared with Ponnelle's earlier films. Ponnelle makes the two female leads look like identical twins and the two male leads spend most of the film with their faces covered with yashmaks. This is most confusing in a plot that revolves around partner swapping. Bizarrely, in the wedding scene, the men abandon their masks so the two sisters can quite clearly see that they are marrying each other's lover. Incidentally, if you want to see the definitive version of Cosi on film, try to catch Eteri Gvazava's recent performance, filmed at the Teatro Piccolo in Milan.

An ambivalent comedy of manners and hearts

[diligentdon · 6/10 · 31 August 2006]

Having followed Ponnelle's career via reviews of stage performances, interviews and (all too seldom, I do NOT live in any of the major cities) the occasional performance of one of his many productions, I knew that he and "Cosi fan tutte" go back quite a ways (at least 1969). Unfortunately, my first viewing of this, his last film, was one of somewhat modified rapture.

First, a little background. An elderly, cynical philosopher (Don Alfonso) makes a wager with two Neapolitan army officers, Ferrando & Guglielmo that their fiancées (Dorabella & Fiordiligi, respectively) will prove to be no more paragons of fidelity than any other women. So the men disguise themselves, and with the connivance of the girls' maid Despina, woo each other's sweetheart, with startling (at least to the men) results.

Onward to the performance. All the singers are strong actors--no weak links here. As the other poster in this forum states, Teresa Stratas as Despina pretty much steals the show as one of the most hilariously slatternly maids in history. Giving her work a lick and a promise, making liberal use of her mistresses' powder & perfume and snacking on their untouched breakfasts, she's a hoot. She forms an (uninformed) part of Alfonso's plot to prove the girls' inconstancy, and when she finds out she's been duped as well, the shock on her face is like a kick in the stomach.

Edita Gruberova was to me the other big standout (other than the apparently ageless Paolo Montarsolo's Don Alfonso). I had thought she was more of a singer than an actress, but here she plays a broad range of moods beautifully--amusing hauteur when she defends her morals, equally amusing tentativeness as she starts to give in, and both tenderness and pathos as she gives in to temptation.

Ponnelle has/had a well-deserved reputation as one of the classiest designers in the business, and this film upholds that reputation. His stage production was a model of 18th century sensibility, all two-dimensional flat scenery and beautiful period costumes. For the film, he gives a "realistic" Italian villa with a frescoed interior, set in a lush seaside garden. Artificiality is present too, in that the sea itself is clearly fake (but in its way, almost real looking).

BUT!..... "Cosi fan tutte", for all that it seems blatantly sexist and anti-feminist (the title means "All Women Behave like This"), is actually quite sympathetic to the women (Mozart had a soft spot there, just read his compiled letters), but you wouldn't really catch that from Ponnelle. This is one of those shows where what the director has to say doesn't always mesh with the material itself. The music & words have the lovers reconcile (although the men DO say that they don't wish to test their womens' faithfulness any further)--but Ponnelle ends with all four in the throes of misery, while Alfonso coolly counts his winnings and pays off Despina (who promptly throws it away in shame).

My verdict? Don't miss it, but also get to know the music and words beforehand. And be forgiving with your significant others--Mozart would have hoped for nothing less.